Indepizza in... Independence, of course.

You gotta love a place where you can get flavorful fresh pizza, farm fresh eggs AND locally made cheese all in one place. 

Seriously. 

After seeing a flick in the Independence Cinema 8 (NOT a Regal property, and a fine theater with great fresh popcorn), my friend Val and I dropped by Indepizza for a take-out dinner. You'll find it on the Main Street of Independence, which houses a surprising number of eateries and lovely historic buildings. Inside is a very homey place that caters to kids and families. There are video games, pool, air hockey, and the assorted boisterous noises that go along with it, so it's certainly not the place for a quiet romantic dinner. (You can find that down the street at Ragin' River Steak Company.) 

But if you want good pizza: come here. Wanna fight over what "style" of pizza it is? Bone up first on all the options here, and then come back and let's have a go at it. It's New York... sorta. It's better than, IMO. Most New York style joints give you a thin dough that doesn't rise, has little flavor, with a dry brushing of sauce, and greasy cheese that separates. *shudder* Maybe that's the pizza of your youth. I'm sorry. 

Nooooooo thank you. You won't find that here. It's not Wallery's. It's not Paddington's. It's not Pietros (oh god, no). It's... Indepizza. Like I would make... but much better thanks to hot ovens and a kick ass red sauce recipe. 

Stay in, or pick it up and take it home. We picked up three individual sized pies (mine, hers, and one for her hubby at home), each with its own fairly convoluted ordering specifics. I had a demand about how much sauce I expected, wanted, NEEDED on my pie which was red sauce, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, black olives and mushrooms. 

The available topping selection is pretty diverse, and everything we had tasted fresh, from anchovies to black olives. The individual pies start at just $5, as do the calzones. Adding up toppings, my pie came to a bit over $9.00, but I was very pleased. 

Whatever style you want to call it, here's the rundown: The crust is crispy and very tasty, but not too thin, and not too thick. A slice has enough structure to stand up on its own (at least the small size), yet has soft, tender areas that really impart impressive flavor. Sauce and toppings mostly out to the ends of the crust; no big puffy bones to deal with. It was warm and yeasty, done to perfection:  just enough heat to release all the flavors, but not so much that things started to dry or char. The combo of crust, a tangy and sweet sauce (one of the best I've had in a long while), fresh cheese (rumored to be home made) and generous toppings was hearty enough that I had half the 'za for dinner, and the other half for a late night snack. 

While I didn't catch all the details, the eatery is a family affair. The woman at the counter was the Mom of the young man running the kitchen, I believe, and it was their farm fresh eggs you could get at the counter. The cheese appears to be from an outfit in Scio (same family). I picked up a bag of the On Fire Habanero Cheddar Curds. You can have it put onto your pizza, but I took them home, chopped them up and put them in a breakfast quiche that was to die for a few days later. Next time, I'll try it on the pizza! 

I'll be back for the product and the service. And maybe even challenge my partner to a few games of air hockey.